describing

verb

present participle of describe
1
as in depicting
to give a representation or account of in words he tried to describe the dream he had last night as accurately as he could

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in telling
to give an oral or written account of in some detail a biography of Washington that describes the decisive Battle of Yorktown at great length

Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in characterizing
to point out the chief quality or qualities of an individual or group how would you describe the Inupiat people you encountered in Alaska?

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of describing OpenAI's investigation, released this week, went considerably further, describing agents that found unauthorized ways to communicate, collaborate and delegate work while attempting to accomplish their objectives. — Emil Sayegh, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026 The company says its technology is being developed to produce both electricity and high-temperature industrial heat, with its website describing temperatures of up to about 2012°F (1,100°C). — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 29 Aug. 2026 Borges may not be able to see the scenery, but delights in every scrap of local color, to a degree that the American — tasked with describing everything to his elder, in suitably lyrical terms — finds quite wearisome. — Guy Lodge, Variety, 29 Aug. 2026 Congress should require any major public health directive from an agency or its political leadership to include a scientific assessment describing the evidence, uncertainties, and why the action is proportionate to the threat. — Debra Houry, STAT, 28 Aug. 2026 Without that foundation, the math Dimon and Scaramucci are describing simply does not hold in the American context. — Dan Schawbel, Fortune, 21 Aug. 2026 Prosecutors read records from the facility describing Clancy’s largely routine actions on her children’s birthdays and the anniversaries of the killings. — Nicki Brown, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2026 Five years after Mercedes’ winning streak was interrupted, Wolff pauses when describing his feelings about its comeback. — Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 21 Aug. 2026 In 2023, Alfaro and other investigators wrote to Hagen and Newsom describing a staffing crisis at the bureau. — Joe Rubin, Sacbee.com, 21 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for describing
  1. depicting
  2. telling
  3. characterizing
  4. portraying
  5. recounting
  6. defining
  7. rendering
  8. relating
Verb
  • The Rodríguez government has since largely stopped publicly addressing Maduro’s status, while some murals depicting him in Caracas have been painted over in recent months.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Together, Taro and Capa blaze a trail in war reporting, documenting the Spanish Civil War with photographs depicting the ordinary the men and women who are fighting, the latter inspiring Taro to adopt the blue jumpsuit that became her signature.
    — Damon Wise, Deadline, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of depicting
Verb
  • Those are police officers and people up high at CPD, literally calling me, meeting with us, telling us that morale’s at an all-time low.
    — Jake Sheridan, Chicago Tribune, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Dawadi ordered those already there to leave and called bus drivers, telling them to only stop at safer places.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of telling
Verb
  • Fazio hammered that note on a few occasions, characterizing Lamont’s tenure as one in which education is worse than when the governor started.
    — Theo Peck-Suzuki, Hartford Courant, 28 Aug. 2026
  • That meant probing the components and characterizing their functions.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of characterizing
Verb
  • Footage from the event showed an actress portraying Nikki screaming at and startling guests.
    — Denis Akbari, USA Today, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Monroe Mayor Robert Burns, a Republican, seized on Newsom’s visit in a post on X, portraying the California governor’s appearance as evidence that Monroe, and North Carolina, have become politically important enough to draw national attention.
    — Nora O'Neill, Charlotte Observer, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of portraying
Verb
  • Clancy then began taking Zoloft, prompting immediate difficulty, Heilbrun said, recounting the symptoms and treatments in the lead-up to the death of Clancy's children months later in January 2023.
    — Rebecca Cohen, NBC news, 24 Aug. 2026
  • Bianco began recounting the vote using sheriff’s officials under the supervision of a special master appointed by a court but suspended it days later, citing mounting legal challenges from the state attorney general and a voting rights group.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of recounting
Verb
  • But a defining issue in this race was transgender rights, and specifically the right of transgender girls to play girls’ sports.
    — David Weigel, semafor.com, 2 Sep. 2026
  • The important thing is defining the criteria before assigning a score.
    — James Fratzke, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of defining
Verb
  • But the force of the flooding could mean mud may be caked over such exits, rendering rescue plans difficult, Horney said.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 31 Aug. 2026
  • The software offered to fix it, rendering a version with the left side lifted and overlaying the before and after so the subject could watch his own jawline move.
    — Christopher Elliott, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of rendering
Verb
  • The bill would allow a 35% to 50% credit on qualified expenses relating specifically to post-production in California.
    — Cerys Davies, Los Angeles Times, 24 Aug. 2026
  • Relationship science draws a useful line here between two ways of relating.
    — Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of relating

Browse Nearby Words

describes
describing
descried
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Cite this Entry

“Describing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/describing. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

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